Airbag modules or supplemental inflatable restraint systems have become common in modern automobiles. An airbag module typically comprises an inflatable cushion and an inflator within a housing. The module is installed in a desired position within the vehicle, such as the steering wheel, the dashboard, the seat, the A-pillar, and other locations. The inflatable cushion is stored in a folded position within the housing in fluid communication with the inflator. In response to an activation event or occurrence, a sensor or sensing device provides a signal for activating the inflator. The inflator then provides a supply of inflating gas to the cushion deploying it from the housing.
As more and more vehicles are equipped with airbag modules, other vehicle components have been modified to accommodate the use of such systems. For example, most passenger side airbag module systems are disposed within and behind an instrument panel, which extends across the width of a vehicle compartment. During assembly, a conventional instrument panel in a vehicle having a passenger side airbag module system requires a discrete door which covers an opening formed in the instrument panel for the air bag cushion to deploy through upon actuation of the airbag module system. This separate door is designed to open in response to the force of the expanding air bag cushion. In other words as the pressure in the air bag cushion increases, an internal force is generated within the cushion and as the air bag cushion expands with this force, the door selectively separates from a portion of the module and the instrument panel as the air bag cushion deploys while another portion of the door remains secured to the module during deployment.
Typically, the manufacture of an instrument panel involves forming an opening in the instrument panel proximate to the airbag module system. This opening is then covered by a separate deployable door of the airbag module, which is secured to the instrument panel and faces the occupants of the vehicle. Thus, the instrument panel itself is manufactured in view of the shape and size of the door and the door is separately manufactured and installed within the opening in the instrument panel.
Typically, the deployable doors of the passenger airbag module are secured within and to the opening of the instrument panel and the resulting force of the inflating airbag tears open a tear seam in the show surface of the door and/or a tear seam in the securing features adapted to secure the door to the instrument panel.